2. I sympathize with people who struggle against the excessive secrecy of our government, but

if they violate the law, they know they will probably pay a price.

Assange was not especially targeting the US government. He just went for secrecy. I don't think they have evidence that he really did anything other than publish information that was provided to him by others including whistleblowers.

As for Anonymous, they aren't well defined. It's hard to have an attitude toward Anonymous.
Seems to be some sort of amorphous non-group of individuals doing various things.

3. I soured on OWS when I saw them in person at the DNC.

They appeared to be a bunch of mean drunks with hated for everyone. They snarled traffic for no reason and then insulted the people standing around waiting for them to move so we could get where we were going. I was extremely supportive of OWS at the start, but sadly my personal interaction with them was not positive.

7. Anonymous is a concept. OWS is irrelevant. And Assange is a conceited asshole. nt

8. Not having spokespeople is a two-edged sword

It means there are no leaders for the government to take out, but it also means that anybody who claims to speak for OWS or Anonymous can't be disavowed. That means that any obnoxious loudmouth who says things the national media will love to jump on can be painted as a de facto representative of the movement.

In addition, Anonymous has been disrupted by the many arrests of active hackers, even though they claim they haven't.

And OWS seems to have moved away from public protest and into community organizing -- everything from Occupy Sandy to Occupy the NRA. They're actively working on issues like debt and foreclosure, but they a lot less visible.

I think OWS, or some mutation of it, is going to come back round in a variety of forms. But at the moment, they're at a low ebb -- and DU, which does tend to chase the shiniest targets, reflects that.

19. I will never have anyone on Ignore. I think that's the easy way out.

And I don't have a problem with populist movements at all. I just wish the ones we saw last year were a little more effective.

OWS fell apart because, like the GOP, no one was in charge.
Anonymous has been wrong at times, as when they mistakenly identified the wrong person as a pedophile.
And of course there was that ridiculous assertion that they saved us from Carl Rove during the election. Juvenile stuff.
And Assange truly is a narcissist, that's just my view of his actions.